Illegal fishermen were caught and their fish confiscated by residents concerned they were fishing unlawfully in the River Blackwater.

Simon Wakefield, 57, company director at Yellow Admiral, a marine recruitment firm, spotted the fishermen near the Stone Inn.

The fishermen had a seal trapped in their nets and were catching undersized sea bass illegally.

Legally sea bass can only be caught with a rod and line when they are 36cm or over.

Mr Wakefield and his neighbours confiscated the fish, which had died, and contacted the coast guard, police and Maldon District Council.

A council spokesman said: “That part of the river is a public fishery so anybody can set their own nets, but everyone must adhere to the strict size limits and no undersize fish can be taken for any purpose."

You hit enter before you finished your sentence with 'which has been independently assessed to be well below safety levels.'

[quote][p][bold]Opsiomath[/bold] wrote:
Good luck with the Bradwell contamination[/p][/quote]You hit enter before you finished your sentence with 'which has been independently assessed to be well below safety levels.'Hawthorne